Citation:Gotterbarn, D. W. et al.(2006) Developing software in a bicultural context: the role of a SoDis inspection. International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction, 2(2), pp. 1-23.

Description:

This paper introduces the SoDIS process to identify ethical and social risks from software development in the context of designing software for the New Zealand Maori culture. In reviewing the SoDIS analysis for this project, the tensions between two cultures are explored. The paper concludes with some reflections upon the key principles informing the professional development of software and ways in which cultural values are embedded in supposedly neutral technologies, and reviews the lessons learned about avoiding colonization while working on a bicultural project. The modified SoDIS methodology was used in the design and development of a national database in New Zealand to develop a genealogy database to distribute NZ 700 million dollars worth of fisheries assets to several claimant tribes.